A Life Remembered
by Halan
Summary: A work in progress, its the story of the owl, his life, his trials, tribulations, and heartbreaks. Comments/suggestions are appretiated.
1. Prolouge

A small brown country mouse scurried along its way deep in the Lost Woods of Kokiri Forest

A small brown country mouse scurried along its way deep in the Lost Woods of Kokiri Forest. Its small brown nose was working over-time, twitching back and forth, searching for food to store for the upcoming winter. Its tiny heart beat rapidly as it ran around the forest, pumping blood to all of its organs so that it might be prepared for any danger. As it hurried along on its way, it had no idea of its impending doom.  
  
His dark eyes narrowed in on the little creature. An easy kill for a hunter such as himself, almost too easy. None the less, he hadn't eaten in days, he would not let this one get away, so he still watched its every move and waited for the perfect time for the kill.  
  
The little mouse's ears perked up. There was a slight rustle in the trees. He had heard it before and ignored it, but this time told him differently. He had heard a slight whisper in the wind, as if someone telling him of what was about to happen. He didn't have to be told twice.  
  
"No!" yelled the great owl, frustrated as the prey suddenly scurried away. After spending hours looking for something suitable to eat, he was now to be forced to eat vegetation once again. "I don't know how much longer I can take this." he thought to himself. "What I wouldn't give for a nice steak right now."  
  
As the mighty owl flew off in a hurry, the fairies of the forest secretly laughed at how they had just saved the small mouse; and made it that much harder for the owl to get a decent meal in this place.  
  
**  
  
Link was bored out of his mind. Ever since his adventure had ended, he never had anything to do. He could always go to the ranch and ride his horse and visit Malon, or go to the Kokiri Forest and play with the children there, or swim in Lake Hylia, but he couldn't. After saving your world from total destruction, life just doesn't have the same kick as it used to. Besides, he couldn't see Princess Zelda, for if he did, he could disrupt the time line and release Ganon back into the world. Thinking about time travel and time lines always gave him a headache. So, there he sat on the wall in front of the ranch, pondering why he was even still alive.  
  
"Hoot Hoot!" a cry bellowed from above.  
  
Link's eyes rolled back in his head. "Oh no." he thought to himself. "Not that owl again. That's just what I need right now, an old owl giving me advice about my life when I don't even need it."  
  
As Link turned his eyes skyward, he noticed the familiar shape of the great wise owl, who always seemed to be around on a boring day to make it seem a little less...fun.  
  
The owl landed on the tree that was closest to Link as Link tried to squint his eyes from the bright morning sun that had recently come up, conveniently behind where the owl was landing. Link knew that the owl would do this to him, he always did. He liked to be an annoyance to Link. It made him feel important, in a vast world.  
  
"Hey Kappa!" Link yelled to the owl, knowing exactly where to hit the owl to tick him off.  
  
"Please Link, I already told you to not ever speak that name again."  
  
"Oh come on Kappa, I was just teasing you. You do it all the time, so why can't I?"  
  
"Didn't I just say never to say my name?" the owl screeched.  
  
"Which name…Kaepora Gaebora?" Link slyly asked.  
  
"Curse you child, have you no respect or intelligence?" Kaepora said as he flew away in a flurry of feathers.  
  
Link looked around, and noticing he was already alone at the beginning of the day, he ran to catch up with the fast departing owl.  
  
"Wait up!" he screamed. "Please just talk to me, I'm so bored these days that I say many things that I don't mean. Please, I…I'm sorry." Link stopped running, knowing that once the owl hit the skies over Kakariko he would be unable to catch him. He slowly retreated to his wall to ponder more on life on this boring world.  
  
Just as he started back however, he was grabbed from behind and lifted roughly into the sky.  
  
"Oh my…for the love of Nayru, put me down before I throw up." Link said as he gasped for air. He wasn't used to flying, after all he hadn't flow since…no, he thought, it is better not to bring up memories of the past. Or was it memories of the future? Link's head spun as he flew through the air. He focused on something stationary and as his stomach and head returned to normal, he enjoyed his short flight back to the wall.   
  
The owl gently placed Link back onto the wall and flew to a different tree, one that would not be so bothersome to Link's eyes.   
  
"Forgive me if I came off a little grouchy. I haven't had a decent meal in weeks."  
  
"Been hunting in the Lost Woods have we?"  
  
"Well, yes, as a matter of fact, I have. Why? Is there something wrong with hunting there?"  
  
"Well, I have been trying to kill some of the birds there and every time you get close, they fly away. And do you know why they always fly away? It's because of the fairies that live there. They protect all of the little animals of the forest and make life more difficult for the larger ones, such as you and me. I swear, sometimes, I can almost hear their laughter in the trees as I curse at losing my catch. Damn fairies!" Link said, while slowly drifting off into his own world of a land full of fairies and Kokiri children laughing at him because Navi, his only fairy, had left him.  
  
"Anyway," the owl said, trying to regain control of the situation. "I was just passing through and it looked like you needed someone to talk to."  
  
"Huh?" Link said as he snapped back into reality. "Oh yeah, I have nothing to do. There isn't anyone really interesting to talk to anymore. Only girls who bat their eyes and try to gain me as their prize. All of the girls seem so immature."  
  
Kaepora Gaebora silently chuckled to himself. Link, sensing that someone was making fun of him said, "What, you think that's funny?"  
  
"Oh no, it's just that you have already matured as an adult, and then un-matured; I guess you would call it; and now you are criticizing the opposite sex when you yourself used to be like that."  
  
"Stop! You're making my head spin!" Link cried. He always hated it when the owl pulled his time travel knowledge on him. As he yelled this though, he noticed a slight sagging to the owl's shoulders, if a notice could be made.   
  
"What's wrong?" Link asked.  
  
"Nothing, just remembering old times, before I was an owl, I miss those days. It was rather exhilarating to be an owl at first, flying through the air and up to the edge of space. But after a while, you begin to remember the pleasures of being a person. Like being able to walk normally, I wish I could do that again. Or eat with my hands. That would be great. Or to be able to see…" Kaepora Gaebora's face scrunched up as if he was fighting back tears.  
  
"What? What's wrong?" Link asked.  
  
"No, I can't go back to that time. It's too painful." Kaepora sobbed.  
  
"I know how you feel, but it's better to relive it. It helps to relieve some of the pain, I should know." Link said reassuringly. "You can't keep it bottled up inside of you. It will just eat away at you."  
  
The owl thought for a moment and smiled slightly.

"OK. I'll tell you. You'll listen, right?"  
  
"Yes, sure I will." Link said. "Oh no," he thought, "now I have yet another story to listen to." But it could be always be worse," he thought.   
  
"All right, I'm about to tell you the story of my life, of how it all started and how much pain I was forced to endure. The story of my life is not a short one I warn you." "What story of his is?" Link thought. He then felt the penetrating eyes of the owl on him and realized that the owl had stopped talking. "Continue on, Mr. Gaebora." he said, trying to get the eyes off of him.  
  
"The story of my life is known to no one. Some of the more intelligent people, mainly the Shekiah, have managed to figure out parts of my life and encode them into their so called 'gossip stones'. But they only know a small piece of the giant puzzle. What I am to tell you is so secret that even the ground is trying to listen to us at this moment." Kaepora then noticed that Link was beginning to doze off from his rambling. He decided to get on with the story. He spit a wad of leaves he had been chewing at the boy. "I'm up, I'm up!" Link yelled.   
  
"Yes, indeed." the owl replied.   
  
So this is where the story is told, the story of the strange talking owl without a past. The story of the man named Kaepora Gaebora, who was destined for greatness, but when achieved, reached downfall.  



	2. A Storm Which Rages Through Time

His attentive brown eyes looked around nervously

His attentive brown eyes looked around nervously. He was in a room of some sort. He had no idea where he was, and yet, it seemed somehow familiar. He felt that he had been there before. He turned his head sharply to the left as a loud noise caught his attention. A young woman with bright blond hair was cooking at the hearth and she had dropped the large wooden spoon that she had been using to stir the stew. Her clothing was what was to be expected. It was a simple, blue dress, nothing fancy. Her long blond hair was braided into a type of headband to keep it out of her face and out of the fire. She leaned over to pick up the spoon that she had dropped and her dress almost caught on fire from flying bits of ash. She stood back up and shook her dress out to make sure that there were not any bits of the ash hiding in it. The ash was like a snake, waiting for just the perfect moment to strike out and injure its potential victim. Satisfied, she walked away from the fire.

He caught a glimpse of her face as she walked over to a cupboard to pull out a few home grown carrots to add to the stew. She had a perfect oval shaped face, with a cute little nose and big bright green eyes that would make any man stop dead in his tracks. The hair that did not stay in place gently swayed back and forth across her delicate face as the wind from the coming storm caught it. The woman's face seemed flushed; perhaps, he thought, it was from working around the fire. However, it seemed deeper than that, her face would not have been that red from just being near a fire for a few hours. He wondered what she was thinking about at that moment, what was on her mind, what was making her goddess-like face look so worried. 

Suddenly, a tall, handsome man, dressed in armor, walked into the room. Lightning crashed outside as the storm hit the area. The flash lit up the man's face, making it also seem god-like. His hair was a deep brown color, and it fell over his eyes as he slowly advanced towards the young woman. The shield that he was carrying was made out of gold; it looked like something that only a knight of a king would own. The golden shield was a marvelous royal blue on the front and in the center were three golden triangles. The triangles seemed to glow mysteriously, as if they were a totally separate entity. The sword the man carried was also made of polished gold, he had seen the man put it in its golden holster before, but he just could not remember when he actually saw that happen. The young woman looked over at him as he came in through the open door and let out a small cry of sadness as she fell to the ground. He ran over to her to catch her, and he held her lovingly in his strong arms. He tried to calm her down with reassuring words and kisses, but it was to no avail. She had tears in her bright green eyes; she seemed to know the truth. 

The storm that was raging outside seemed to halt its constant groans of thunder and lightning for a moment. It was as if the storm knew the destiny of the two lovers. Perhaps the storm felt it should give the couple one last moment of peace together, for it knew they would never hold each other in their arms again. Instead of the downpour of the cruel rain that had been heard before, only the sound of the soft gentle rain pattering against the window was audible. The two intertwined beings held each other in the moment, refusing to let go until all was right with the world. However, both knew that at that point in time, such a thing would never be possible.

It appeared to him that he was only a bystander. He felt like he was not even there, or as if he was invisible to every one around him. He could not speak to anyone; he could not ask what was wrong or what was happening. He looked around at his surroundings and suddenly realized that he was lying down in a bed. He tried to pull himself up out of it, only to find that he had almost no control over his body. 

"Man!" he thought to himself. "This is horrible!" 

But then, before he had time to think or do anything else, the interlocked couple withdrew from each other. As soon as their arms left one another, the ferocious storm outside started up again. The tall man dressed in the armor suit walked over to where he was lying and leaned over him. He looked into the man's hazel brown eyes, trying to find an answer to his questions. He attempted to speak but no words came out. The man shifted his position and began to speak to him. 

"I will be back. Believe me when I say this. I will return to be with you. I will not let you down. Wait for me here." 

With that said, the tall man left a necklace around his neck. As he was trying to see what the necklace was, he did not notice the tall man rushing out the door, into the vicious storm, and out of that young man's life forever. 

**

A crash of lighting lit up the room. He awoke in a cold sweat. 

"Damn storm." he thought. "I'll never get any sleep." 

Just then, he remembered the dream that he had just dreamt. The tall man with the dark hair. The young crying woman. The necklace. His dark brown hair fell over his face and into his soft brown eyes as he reached inside his shirt, trying to find it. At last, his fingers closed around it. The necklace. As the memory of the dream began to fade, he held it tight in his hand. The deep blue of the stone seemed to go on forever. It was like looking deep into his soul. Every time he looked into the depth of the stone, he felt a memory trying to resurface, tugging at his mind as if trying to tell him something important, something that he desperately needed to know. If only the stone could talk. If only the stone could tell him what was happening to him. If only the stone could tell him of his past, the past that had been forgotten.

The storm outside only seemed to be getting worse. The hard unforgiving rain pounded against the glass windows as the wind slowly began to rock the house back and forth. Small trees were being uprooted and thrown against the small defenseless house. If he had looked outside during the storm, he would have been in absolute awe. The great oak tree which stood near his home was bent over sideways from the strong wind gusts that seemed to be getting stronger and deadlier. Debris was flying everywhere. One step outside would mean death to the unlucky victim. A few small animals who had never known the joy of flying were now sailing through the air, picked up by the strong winds and carried to where ever the wind would take them. For most of them, however, this joyous ride would end with their death. Nevertheless, in amidst all of the hellish weather that was going on outside his somewhat safe haven, he sat quietly on his bed, staring into the deep reaches of the stone, trying to uncover its secret. The stone, however, just laughed at him and his futile attempts at discovering the truth. He flung himself back onto his bed and tried to get some peaceful sleep in the chaotic world.


	3. The Lost Battle

Morning came at its usual time

Morning came at its usual time. The sun poked its bright sunny head over the horizon before coming out to light the world, as if it knew something that the rest of world did not yet know. There was a slight bustle in the small, wooden hen house. The rooster crawled out and fluttered around for a bit. It had been stuck in that hen house all night, and his whole body was cramped up. It hated being stuck in the hen house with all of the ladies. There never was another rooster for him to cluck with. They only appeared when the rooster of the hen house was about to die. Nobody ever really thought to think about it, but the cuccos were similar to the Gerudos. The leading male only appeared when it was needed. One male was always there; no more, no less. At last, the poor, lonely rooster reached the fence and stretched out his long, thin rooster legs. As the rooster assumed its position on the fence, it breathed in deep, tasting the sweet, pure air that surrounded him. Derik, already used to the daily routine, rolled over and pulled out his slingshot. As the rooster began to crow, a deku seed suddenly hit it from behind. It screeched and flew off in a barrage of feathers, just as it always did. Derik smiled, rolled over, and tried to get a little sleep.

Derik was a young man of about 23 years of age. He was found lying, almost dead, on the ground on Hyrule Field when he was 17 years old. When a "savior, sent by the gods" stumbled him upon, as Derik called his rescuer, it was discovered that the young man was extremely bloody, with numerous wounds all over his body. It took him nine months to fully recover from whatever had happened to him. The healers all thought he was a hopeless case, they believed that he would not last longer than a few days, a week at most. But the gods seemed to favor him, for he struggled on against all odds and pulled through. The healers called it an omen of good fortune, one of great destiny, one that would perhaps lead the man through his life and help him along the way. When his rescuer attempted to find out who his young charge was, both of the Hylians discovered that the young man had no idea of where he had come from, or who he was. Even now, six years after he was found, he could not remember anything that had happened to him before he was seventeen. It was like there was an important part of him missing, almost as if he was a part of something greater than his own self. He usually just dismissed it as nothing; he could not remember it anyhow. He had learned over time that it was best not to think about what had happened before he could remember, it only led his mind to the dead end that was always there. On his body at the time that he was found, he carried a long, beautiful golden sword in a beautifully decorated golden holster, which was slung over his shoulder. In addition, around his neck, he wore a gold chain. At the end of the chain was an oddly shaped deep blue stone. When first looked at, it shone brightly; brighter than the sky that is up above; but at second glance, it seemed to fade into just a dull blue stone, a dull, but beautiful, blue stone. This stone was kept on himself at all times, it somehow comforted him in his time of need, it reminded him that even though all was forgotten, he was not alone in this world.

The sweet silence of the glistening morning would not last for long. The cocky rooster, intent on giving out his morning cry, once and for all, hopped up once again onto the old wooden fence. It screamed out, "Cock-a-doodle-do!" as loud as it could. 

"Stupid rooster." Derik said, getting quite annoyed. "I can't get any sleep." 

He grabbed his slingshot and almost fell out of his bed as he stomped over to the open window. He shot the bird twice squarely in the rump and turned around to go back to sleep. 

But instead of the normal squawk that usually came after Derik shot the bird with his seeds, the rooster crowed for a third time. Derik cocked his head to one side, trying to listen to it with his keen Hylian hearing. There was something different, something that he had not heard before. It was not a normal rooster crow; it sounded very strange. The crow bounced off the walls that surrounded the lake and then hit his ears again. It was then that he picked up what the change was. The crow sounded like it had a twinge of danger attached onto it. It was almost as if he was hearing the battle cry of soldiers on the rampage. It scarred Derik out of his skin. He quickly looked out the window and saw that the rooster was coming straight at him. 

As he looked further outside the window, he saw that there were about five more cuccos flying right for him, or rather, were trying to fly. They would hop in the air and flutter slowly to the ground. But even with their hopping, they were still approaching very quickly.

"OWWW!" Derik screamed as the rooster pecked his arm with its razor-like beak. He had been looking at the cuccos for so long that he had not noticed the rooster entering his house. He looked down at his arm and realized that the small peck had caused a large wound in his arm. Derik grabbed his arm, trying to stop the bleeding. He knew that this type of cucco was bloodthirsty. One sight of blood would throw them into frenzy. 

"Din's Fire!" Derik screamed aloud as the rooster fluttered by his head and pecked him squarely in the temple. "That really hurt!" 

Blood trickled down his face and into his right eye. His vision became reduced to an increasing sea of red. 

"I'm a pretty pathetic fighter if I can't even defeat a little rooster." he thought to himself. 

Derik began to become dizzy from the blow to his temple. He refused to give up however and looked at the rooster head on. The rooster, sensing his weakened state, charged at the young man's head. Derik dodged the attack, but he knew that he could not stand forever. The blow to the temple eventually caused him to fall down to his knees. He winced as his knees slammed into the floor. He stayed there for a moment trying to regain some of his strength. He tried to stand up only to be knocked to the floor again by a wave of dizziness. Derik knew that he had to get up. He summoned all his strength and to his surprise, he stood up and did not fall over.

Then suddenly the rooster landed on top of Derik's head. He leaped into action, forgetting his injuries, and began to swat at the air as the insane bird began pecking at his eyes. 

"No, you insane bird! I need those to see!" Derik yelled, trying in vain to get the bird off his head.

He ran around the room, screaming and grabbing at the air. Then, his hand struck something. A wing! He filled his hand with as much feathers and muscle as he could fit and yanked the demonic bird off his head. The rooster sailed into the corner and smashed into the wall. It lay there for a moment, stunned. Derik took the opportunity to grab something to hit it with. He found a long wooden stick on the ground and picked it up. He held the weapon in his hand as he felt a strange feeling come over him. 

"What's happening?" he asked himself. 

A memory was trying to resurface, something about fighting. He stared at the rooster as it recovered from its unexpected flight and began to crow again. His head snapped to the open window. The five cuccos had been sitting on the windowsill, watching the fight, waiting for their turn, waiting for the battle, which was now upon him. The rooster crowed again and the cuccos fluttered to the ground and came straight for him. Derik slowly turned his head back to the insane rooster and wished that he had never gotten those extra deku seeds from that little boy. A sharp pain emerged in the back of Derik's head as a cucco buried its beak far into the reaches of the young man's skull. The world slowly became black as Derik's lifeless body slumped to the floor.


	4. Alone on the Battlefield

His eyes flew open

His eyes flew open. The bright mid-day sun shone right into them, causing him to squint. He was confused, and he discovered, after looking around, that he did not know where in Hyrule he was. In front of him lay a great castle. The castle was not one of a royal family, or even royalty. 

"No," he thought, "This must be a castle of a king of evil." 

It was no wonder that he thought this. One look at this castle would send a man screaming home for his mother. Instead of using traditional white marble to construct the castle, it had been constructed with a dark, dense stone. A Hylian with a knowledge of magic would have been able to see the magic that was intertwined with the stone. The magic seemed to be making the stone manageable, for that type of stone, Lifadite, could not be used under the conditions in which the castle was surrounded. Lifadite went through a chemical reaction when it came into contact with oxygen and exploded. Scientists had been trying for years to tame this mineral, for it was said to be very strong in the right conditions. Even though the castle did not meet the requirements for the stone, the magic that surrounded the stone surely did. The magic also seemed to be keeping the castle suspended in mid-air, for below the floating fortress was a pit of boiling tar. Bones of animals that had strayed too close to the edge were seen in there, slowly sinking away, to be added to the ocean of tar. Any man who slipped would fall to his doom, and his comrades would have the terrible honor of listening to his cries for help as he was slowly and painfully consumed in the tar pit. Dark, menacing clouds circled around the castle, as if they were feeding off the evil that resided there. However, the further away from the castle you were, the sunnier it was. The evil presence in the castle seemed to be causing this darkness, for no light shown around the castle, making it seem that much more frightening. With the tar pit being beneath it, the air around the castle was extremely hot. The men who had reached the outskirts of the perimeter of the castle were already complaining about the temperature. Some of the men began to shed their heavy armor, willing to do anything to relieve their bodies from the heat. The captains shouted at them, ordering them to put their armor back on. However, the captains secretly wished that they themselves could do it, for the heat was unbearable. 

Scouts were sent out to find weaknesses in the castle's defenses. When the scouts reported back, they said that there were no defenses around the castle, just the huge gap that surrounded it. The scouts also discovered that it was impossible to reach the front gate of the castle with out the use of a long shot, and even then, it really was a long shot. A person had a very little chance of hitting anything that the metal clasp of the long shot could sink into. The enemy had cleverly made sure that there would be no wood on the outside of the castle. With no wood, the troops would have to either find another way in or give up. And since giving up wasn't an option, the captains ordered to break formation and set up camp. But not there, somewhere where it was cooler, much cooler.

**

Morning came. The troops had been unable to find a suitable place to make camp. There was not any threat of danger, or hostile environments surrounding them, it was just that every place that they traveled to now was incredibly hot. It seemed like a thick layer of moisture had settled around the army and refused to go away. Every where they went, they were turned away. The citizens of the area, used to the cool, dry climate of the land, could not stand the moisture. The extreme heat also caused crops to die, which kept the soldiers from eating any vegetation that could have been edible. The troops, already hot and tired, set up camp on an open field. This move could have put them in a vulnerable position. However, the captains figured that if any enemy wanted to attack them, then it would have to suffer through the heat as well. Not many men could sleep that night, most just stayed up trying to find something to eat. Roots of the trees seemed to be the top choice on the menu, so that was what many men ate. One lucky man managed to shoot a rabbit that had wandered too close to the camp. However, his luck turned to misfortune when fifty men fought him for the small piece of meat. Morale was at an all time low, but that didn't keep the main reason for their fight out of their heads.

**

Noon. The sun was high in the sky, making the heat unbearable. Being near the tar pits was not much better. Several men who had passed out from heat exhaustion had to be carried back to the camp. They were the lucky ones. They would live to fight another day. Scouts were sent back up to the castle walls, ordered to survey the walls for any signs of weakness. Of course, the castle was locked up as tight as a madman in a mental hospital. The captains were stumped on what to do. Building a bridge was out of the question, for even if they had the supplies, the heat would catch the boards on fire. Besides, the gap was too large for a bridge to be affective. Captain Pierce sat upon his chestnut brown stallion, in deep thought, trying to figure the problem out. His train of thought was broken, however when a young lad rushed up to him. 

"Sire, Sire, I have the solution to our problem!" 

The captain, also very young, looked into the lad's eyes and saw that they were full of hope and told no lies. He asked, "What's your name, lad?"

"Halan, sire." 

"Well, Halan, what's your idea?" 

The young man breathed in deep, trying to catch his breath, for he had run all the way from the front lines to speak with the captain. Finally, he looked up at Pierce.

"I have a few…uh…friends who could help us." 

"What kind of friends?" the captain asked. 

The young man looked to the ground and shuffled his feet around in the dirt nervously. Pierce, already irritable from the heat, yelled out loud at the young man. 

"What? Just tell me!" 

"Fairies, sir, forest fairies." he answered, in a serious tone.

Pierce looked at Halan with a look that said, "you must be joking".

"Fairies? They haven't been seen for over 200 years!" 

"But sire, they do exist. I once went into a forest, and there were little children there. Around each child was a fairy. I became friends with a few of the children, and well, to make a long story short, one of them gave me a gift that I could use to call upon the fairies when I was in need of their assistance." 

The captain looked at Halan, then at one of the other officers, then back at Halan. 

"Surely you jest, man. Fairies, in a forest, with children? And a magical gift that calls upon these mythical creatures? Do you take me for some sort of fool?" 

"No, sire!" Halan quickly replied. "It is true. You must believe me. It is our only chance! What else are you going to do? Spend eternity trying do devise a way to reach the castle while countless men die from heat exhaustion? Please, allow me to at least try!" 

Pierce looked up at the castle, lumbering in front of him. Just then, a solider lying in a gunny passed by, another victim of heat exhaustion. Pierce closed his eyes, and addressed Halan. 

"Go, try your plan," he said, almost whispering. "and may the gods help you and your…fairies."

**

He was standing in the middle of all of the commotion. A few moments earlier, a young man about his age had run up to him, screaming something to him about fairies and the solution. The young man seemed to know him, but the same couldn't be said for him. Something about him seemed familiar, but at that moment, he didn't care. He just wanted to get out of there. Last night had been hell. He did not even know why he was there. He just wanted to go home.

**

Halan walked up to the edge of the cliff that overlooked the pit. The crowd parted as the people tried to figure out what he was doing. Halan slowly reached into his pocket and pulled something out. Being careful not to drop it, he carefully brought it to his lips. 

"He's got a littl flute!" someone screamed. "Hey, play us a litll diddy, son!" 

All of the troops laughed as the young man drew in a deep breath. The crowd grew silent. A beautiful note filled the air, followed by another, and another. He kept playing. With each note, the castle seemed to shiver, as if the music was pounding into the side of it. Even after he stopped playing, the music kept on going. Perhaps, it was just bouncing off the walls of the castle and the mountains, and it just seemed to go on. But many men would say that the music had a life of its own, and it played by itself. As the music played on, little glimmers of lights appeared in the sky. The troops looked up to see what it was. 

"Oh my…" Pierce muttered under his breath. 

Twenty or so fairies filled the area. Everyone could hear their chattering, their laughter. They all flew up to Halan and grew silent. He appeared to be talking with them, but no one was close enough to hear him. The fairies flew off and sailed over to the castle. Little glimmers of light fell down from the fairies as the set to work. Just above the entrance, they constructed a large beam of wood out of thin air. Murmurs were heard going through the ranks of soldiers. None of the men could believe what they were seeing. Nevertheless, it really was happening, it really was. After the fairies had finished their task, they flew back to Halan and then flew off towards the north.

Silence. Then a cheer rose up, starting from the back and working its way forward. Captain Pierce fought his way through the crowd and up to Halan, patting him hard on the back. 

"Good work, my boy. Now lets go kick some ass!"

**

"Form your lines men!" the captains yelled. The men lined up in several lines along the ledge, each waiting with anticipation. Except one. He did not understand what any of these commands meant. He just followed everyone else.

"Long shots ready!" Thousands of long shots were pulled out of the pockets of the men and aimed at the wooden beam that hung on the castle.

"Aim!" The beam suddenly turned a bright mechanical red as the laser pointer of all of the long shots were aimed directly at it.

"Fire!"

It sounded like an explosion. The sound of all of those long shots launching off at once. Then the sound of the retracting chain as it reeled the troops in close to the castle. Once all of the troops and officers were safely on the other side, the command for forward march was given. 

Inside the castle, the soldiers finally met relief. It was a cool 60 degrees inside. Several soldiers let out a sigh as the cool air met their hot bodies. With the cool air surrounding them, the troops could concentrate on the coming battle. Their minds were now sharp and their reflexes quick. He, on the other hand, was freaking out. He could not remember how to fight, he didn't think that he had never learned. A warm, comforting wind then took that opportunity to pass by his cheek. Talerma. That was the name of this place, of this castle. And they were preparing to fight the king who lived here, because he was evil. He remembered that, but nothing else.

"Arm yourselves men!" the captains hollered aloud. 

As the troops withdrew their swords, he did the same. As he touched the hilt of his sword, he felt a surge of power flow into his veins. He withdrew his hand quickly, but so he would not look like a coward, he grabbed a hold of the sword. He did not have to pull hard because it came easily out of the holster. The sword made a slight shing noise, the normal noise that a sword would make after coming out of its scabbard. He had unconsciously dropped his hand to his side, and the sword hung there by his leg. He brought it up to his face so he could get a better look at it. However, as the sword sliced through the air, he thought he heard a voice singing. 

"It can't be," he thought. "A sword that sings?" 

He continued to bring the sword up, and sure enough, the singing continued. It was a song that he knew; he could even hum along with it. However, he didn't know the words, or where the song had come from. It seemed that the song had always been there, resting deep within his self. He swung the sword around a few times, trying to hear the song again, but it had stopped. He gave up and decided to examine the sword instead. As he brought the sword the sword to his face, he noticed it was made out of gold. 

"Where have I seen this before?" he thought to himself. He remembered the dream, the man, that stormy night. Could this be the same…?

"All right men, search the castle." His head snapped back up as the captains gave the order. Search the castle? What if he found something? What could he do? He quickly tagged along with another group of soldiers. 

"Hey, you coming with us, kid?" one of the soldiers asked. 

"Hey, I'm not a kid." he retorted angrily, only to be interrupted by the soldier. 

"We hope that we can get this guy. You've only been with this group for a few weeks, right?" 

He thought a moment before answering, unsure of what to say, and then replied, "Yeah, I guess I have." 

"Well, we've been fighting this guy for a long time. Denzaf has been a menace to this country for ages, and it looks like we might be able to defeat him this time." 

"Why's that?" he asked.

"Well, we've eliminated most of his army, and now all that he's got left is this castle. He's cornered in here, there's no way out." He nodded, and the group continued on in silence.

The cold was starting to get to him. "I wish I was outside now, where its warm." he thought as he began shivering. One of the men looked back at him. 

"Are you ok kid?" he asked.

"Yeah, I'm just…a little cold." he replied. 

"Don't worry, it can't be any worse than last night." the soldier replied, with a smirk on his face.

"Yeah, I guess so." he said. 

Then without warning, he felt a strange warmth coming from inside his shirt. It began to heat up to tremendous temperatures. The heat knocked him to the ground. He reached inside and tore off his necklace, since that was the only thing that was in there. The other soldiers rushed over to him, to see what was wrong. 

"What happened?" they all asked. 

"I don't know." he replied, because he really did not know what had happened. His gaze fell upon his necklace that he had tossed to the ground. It shone brighter than he had ever seen it shine before. He picked it up with great care and hung it back around his neck. Surprisingly enough, it did not seem as hot as it had before, even though it was shining brighter than before.

The soldiers helped him to his feet. He brushed himself off, and as he did, he heard a grunting sound. He looked up just in time to see one of his comrades fall to the ground. An arrow was sticking out of his back. He looked at the balcony, and he could see a dark figure, with a bow in its hands. 

"CHARGE!!!!" he yelled, surprising everyone, including himself. The small group ran forward, brandishing their weapons, rushing forward to meet their destinies, whatever they were.


	5. An Unknown Enemy

A blue beetle slowly made its way across the oak floor, being careful not to stumble and fall on any of the cracks that were there

A blue beetle slowly made its way across the oak floor, being careful not to stumble and fall on any of the cracks that were there. As it scurried along, it came across an incredibly large barrier. The beetle let out a small sigh and began to climb the enormous mountain. The first part of the journey proved to be the hardest. The tough leather refused to let him climb, but he eventually made it to the top. The beetle stopped, resting before starting again on his journey. For the most part, the soft ground was even, no other forms of climbing was necessary. The final part of the journey was a steep mountain climb. The ground here was not smooth; it had a rough texture to it. Not an easy climb, but not a hard challenge for the experienced beetle. As he came to the top, he instantly noticed the many holes that were on the plateau. As the beetle carefully made his way around each hole, two of them caught his attention. It looked like tall bushes or trees surrounded them, but the leaves were black, not green. Curious, he ventured towards them. As he approached them, he noticed that they looked more like tiny blades of grass. He decided that they might make a tasty meal, so he nibbled on them just a little bit. Suddenly, the black grass moved, and he realized it was not grass after all. 

"Holy fire of Din!" Derik screamed, as he awoke to a beetle right next to his eye. He jumped up and swatted ferociously at the insect, before it flew away. 

It was then that Derik remembered what had happened. He quickly fell back down to the ground from the crushing headache he had. He slowly sat back up and reached his hand towards the back of his head, touching it gingerly. It was still fresh with blood and hurt like hell. How long had he been unconscious? A few minutes? A few days? He wasn't sure. 

There was a lot of the blood on the floor. Derik wished that maybe most of it was from the cuccos, but he knew better than that. He looked at his arms and saw the many holes that were still bleeding. "They must have had a feast on me." he thought. He tried to stand up, but the loss of blood was too much. As he sat there, he unconsciously reached for his necklace. To his horror, it wasn't there. 

"What the…?"

He looked inside his shirt, foolishly believing that it was there. It wasn't. Panic started to set in as he frantically looked around his broken body for the symbol of his lost self. The pain that shot through his body did not bother him; he had to find it. A normal man would have fainted from the rush of pain that was slicing through his veins, but he was no ordinary man. As he crawled on all fours, his hand ran into an old weathered boot. Slowly, he raised his head to the figure, which stood at the door. 

"Looking for this?" the figure inquired. 

Dangling from his hand was the necklace. Derik, already angry enough, reached out and grabbed it from him, and quickly put it back around his neck. 

"Woah, calm down, I didn't take it." 

"Didn't say you did." Derik replied; looking at the stone, assessing the damage it had taken. 

Numerous scratches were etched into the center of it. Tearfully, he rubbed at them, trying to make them disappear. Surprisingly, it seemed to work. The scratches slowly faded until the surface was smooth. Derik too shocked to do anything else, put the necklace back in its place; underneath his shirt, next to his heart. 

"What are you doing here?" Derik asked. "And how did you get ahold of my necklace?" 

The man who he was addressing was soaking wet. He was leaning against the door and looked very uncomfortable. 

"Well, I was on my way home when I saw this rooster. It looked straight at me and flew at my head. I hit it with a book I was carrying and it squawked at me. It flew over to a clump of bushes and plucked something out of it before flying away. Intrigued, I followed it. I threw another book at it, bringing it down. It was hurt, that much I could tell, but it didn't want to give up. It continued to elude me by hopping in a zigzag kind of path. It was then that I saw that it had your necklace. I dove for it as it reached the lake and grabbed the necklace. Unfortunately, the ground beneath me turned into the lake and I fell in. The rooster landed on my head and decided to leave me a memento." He pointed to the white cream that was on top of his head. "It flew away before I could kick its sorry butt. Anyway, I came in here and saw you looking around the floor. What happened here anyway?" 

Derik looked around and noticed all of the feathers covered with blood. 

"Well." he said. "I had a run in with that same rooster. Only he had some of his friends with him. I didn't fare too well." he said, motioning to the back of his head. 

The man walked over and glanced at the wound on the back of the young man's head. "Yeah, it looks like it's stopped bleeding. I'll fix it up for you in a bit." 

"Hey, fix it now you Gerudo!" Derik cried. His headache was only getting worse and this rambling wasn't helping it. 

"Don't insult me so! I am no more a Gerudo than you are a Sheikah! But I will tend to that wound, if you would be still for a moment." 

The man walked over and picked up his healing bag and got a red potion out of it. 

"Here, drink this, it will dull the pain and speed up the healing process." he said, throwing the bottle over to Derik. 

Derik caught the vial of red liquid and drank it down. It tasted horrible, but he felt almost instant relief. 

"Happy now?" 

"Yeah." Derik stood up slowly and walked over to the window. "So what are you doing home so early?" 

"Well, good to see you too." 

"Oh, I'm so sorry. Ravin, your worship, how hast thou fared on thin long journey that thou hast traveled?" 

Ravin frowned slightly after Derik had finished talking. He was a tall man, a few years older than Derik was. His hair was as black as a raven, and his skin darkly tanned. He hated it when Derik called him a Gerudo; it really got to him. His mother had been a Gerudo, but he had never seen her. She had been killed in the Civil Wars that had erupted there long ago. Ravin hated to say it, but he really despised the Gerudos. They had killed his mother in a senseless war and he couldn't forgive them for that. His father had been a high-ranking soldier. It was from him that Ravin got his black hair from. His father had had silky black hair that drove the ladies mad. He raised Ravin by himself, and taught him how to fight. However, he let Ravin hang out with the noble women, and when he first ran into Derik, he talked very proper. Derik never forgot that, and teased him about it every chance he got. 

"Well, if you must know, the trip was horrible. I made it to Palitona in just under two days. You've been there right?" 

Derik shook his head. "Nope, never been there. Is it a nice place? I might visit there sometime." 

Ravin smiled and said. "Yeah, that place was great. The motto of the town says it all: 'Come for the cakes and the special beer, you'll be…'" 

"be glad that you got off your horse and stopped by here." Derik answered. 

Ravin looked over at him suspiciously 

"I thought you've never been there." 

"I haven't" 

"Then how did you know the motto? They don't broadcast it out anywhere. You only could have known it if you had been there before." 

Derik scratched his head. "No, I've never been there. I don't know how I knew it." "Where did I hear that?" he wondered. 

Ravin looked at Derik. He could see the troubled look in his eyes. He wondered what he was thinking about. Bringing up Palitona might not have been such a good idea. It seemed that the name of this town was bringing up some old memories. Even though Ravin wanted Derik to regain his memory, he felt that now was the worst time. "Could he be remembering…?" he wondered. He shuddered at the thought. 

"So if the town was so great, then why did you have such a horrible time?" Derik said, interrupting Ravin's thoughts. 

"Hmm? Oh, well, as you know, I went there to teach one of the young men over there about making these red potions that I carry." 

He pointed to the bag of potions that he had. Never before had there been such a fast working potion as had been created by the man that stood there. The red potion could cure almost anything. It could be drank for internal injuries, or applied directly to the wound for instant relief. 

"The kid who I worked with showed much promise, he will be able to help out in the coming years, if he is still out there." 

"What do you mean, if he's still out there? Why wouldn't he be?" 

Ravin sighed and walked over to his bag. 

"Did I tell you that I'm working on a potion that will restore your magic power? It's still in the making but I think it is possible to make. I'm thinking of making it green." 

"Stop beating around the bush! What the heck happened over there?" 

Ravin sighed again and walked over to the bed. He looked at the patterns on the bedspread. He and Derik had woven it a few years after Derik had recovered from his battle scars. Its colors didn't match and the stitching was horrible; neither of them really knew how to stitch. He had to teach Derik how to even hold a needle. He remembered getting pricked many times by an energetic student who thought that a needle would be fun to play with as a dagger. He smiled at the recollection of old times. Sadly, he knew that such times were long over. 

"It was noontime. I had just finished teaching that young man how to make my potion. There were about six of us in the bar. The barmaid, Lilith was her name, brought me my meal, which was quite delicious, and offered me a drink. She sat down with me and talked with me for a while, mostly about her and the town. It was getting kind of late so I excused myself. As I was getting up to leave, she grabbed my arm. I was about to protest, but I looked in her eyes and saw that she would not let go until she told me what she wanted me to know. She warned me to go home now, not to wait until the caravan came, but to get my own horse and leave this town as soon as possible. She then turned around and walked out of the door." 

"I was confused. I thought about following her advice, about leaving on my own. But I decided on waiting for the caravan. I didn't want to risk my life traveling alone on an unfamiliar path, just because some bar wench told me to. So, since I had some free time on my hands, I went into the local shooting gallery, I can't believe that it can actually stay in business, it was so simple, their targets were all so predictable. The man there seemed impressed that I had won so easily. My prize was this." 

Ravin took out a large quiver and threw it onto the table. Derik walked over to it and picked it up. 

"Is this a Gerudo quiver?" he asked, amazed at the fine workmanship that he held in his hands. 

"Yeah," Ravin said. "I don't want it. I have no use for it, I already have one." Ravin was referring to the quiver that he had made himself slung over his shoulder. "Besides, I don't want that piece of Gerudo crap." 

Derik decided that he better get the quiver out of Ravin's sight before things got nasty. He quickly slung it over his own shoulder and sat back down. 

"So, was that the bad part of your trip? Winning the quiver?" 

"Hardly. That was the highlight. I thanked the man at the counter for the quiver and walked outside. I immediately noticed the change. A cold wind had started blowing through the small village. I shivered at the wind. It wasn't a wind that blows when a winter storm was coming; it was the type of wind that accompanies an evil presence. The cold wind seemed odd and out of place, it being the middle of summer and all. The other people in the town seemed to notice it too. The children were running around, trying to find their parents. Dogs and cuccos were also running, but they were running to hide. I thought to myself, if the animals are afraid of what is coming, then I better leave quickly." 

Ravin stopped for a moment, taking a few deep breaths to regain his composure.

"But then it happened; the calm before the storm. The entire town went silent. The wind stopped blowing, the animals stopped crying, and the people stopped moving. A few people looked up at the sky, as did I. The thick billowing clouds were quickly covering the sun and making it seem that much more dark and sinister. It was then that you could hear it. First, it was just a low hum, but it got louder and louder and louder. Then you could see them, there was one and then four, and then more until the entrance to the town was filled with them. I don't even know who they were. They had dark skin, like the Gerudo scum. But they had blond hair and black hair, not red. Most of them were males, so I knew that it couldn't be the Gerudos. Then the arrows came. Burning with an unbelievable fire, blue as ice. You could hear the screams of the men, women and the children as the arrows struck their mark and burned their victims, I myself was struck by one in the leg. It felt like someone was ripping apart my leg from the inside out. It burned through my leg with a thirst for my blood, my flesh, it almost seemed that it tore through my flesh so it could devour the rest of myself. I fell to the ground in pain. When I hit the ground, I saw the little girl beside me. An arrow had hit her as well, but in the chest. She stared at me with her dead eyes, as if asking me why I didn't save her. Tears welled up in my eyes, but I knew I had to get out of there. My bag was underneath me and I grabbed one of my potions out of it. I yanked the arrow out of my leg, screaming in pain and quickly poured the potion onto the wound in my leg and limped over to one of the houses. By now, they were all over the village. I had little time to come up with a plan. Then, I saw it. There was a small crevice in the mountain that surrounded the village. I made a bolt for it and squeezed myself in. I could still hear the battle as I crawled away, the sound of those arrows slicing through the sky and the sound of the burning homes. I had to cast my light spell to lead me through the dark tunnel. I was crawling on all fours for hours, not knowing if I would ever get out. I don't know if I was going insane or not, but even when I was far away, I could still hear that little girl's screams. The screams of all of those people getting shot by arrows, and being burned alive, or being chopped down by those men like wheat in a field. I should have stayed and helped, I should have taken someone with me. I should have…" 

Ravin couldn't take it anymore. He broke down into tears and sobbed on the bedspread that he had made so long ago. Derik walked over and put his hand on Ravin's back, trying to comfort him. It was the least he could do. After all, this guy had taken him in when he didn't have anyone. He believed in him when all others lost hope. He had helped him make it through that first year, that year when didn't have any strength and had danced with death every day. So he felt that this was something he could do to repay for all that he had done for him. 

After what seemed like hours, Ravin seemed ok. He wiped his eyes, got up and went outside. 

"Where are you going?" Derik called out. 

"I've got to get some firewood, we need some to cook dinner." 

Derik looked at the hearth and saw the large pile of wood that he knew was there. He had just cut it the other day. He ran outside and yelled out "We already have some firewood, we don't need..." 

He suddenly stopped short. 

'Just let him chop the wood' his mind told him. 'He's seen too much in the past few days, he needs to blow off some steam.' 

Derik walked back to his home, hoping that Ravin would eventually come in. 

** 

"So, I was thinking about going to see the king tomorrow." Derik said. 

It was nighttime; Ravin had cut so much firewood that they were forced to put it outside. The pile was as tall as the house. Derik didn't say anything about it though. 

"What? Why do you want to go and do that?" Ravin asked. 

He didn't want to go to the castle, and he especially didn't want Derik to go. Too many memories were there, and Derik wasn't ready for that. 

"Well, let me see, you and an entire village were attacked by an unknown enemy that poses a severe threat to Hyrule and no one else knows about them. How's that?" 

"You can't go to the castle, and even if you did, they wouldn't let a commoner like you in." 

"Oh ye of little faith. If they don't let me in, I can always sneak in. I am, after all, the master of disguise." 

"Fine, I'll take you there tomorrow." 

"Hey, who said you're going? I don't need you baby-sitting me on my first real journey away from this lake." 

"I'm going whether you like it or not. Sneaking into the castle? Are you out of your mind? Do you know how much trouble you could get yourself into? I'm going to keep your butt out of trouble. And don't even think about leaving early to get away from me, because I sleep lightly. Ok?" 

"Fine. What ever you say." 

**

As the two young men traveled on in their conservation, a lone figure appeared over the far mountaintop. He surveyed the vast land that lay before him, tasting the sweet air with his tongue. He grinned at the sight that lay before him, a sinister grin, one that would make a baby cry and a woman run away screaming in fright. 

"Yes, it does seem that Hyrule is just ripe for the picking." 


End file.
